OF THE HOLY SUPPER.

The holy Lord’s Supper is an ordinance instituted by Christ Jesus in remembrance of himself, to be observed until his coming, by all who are baptized on true faith in Christ to one body, in the church of the New Testament. Matt. 26:26; 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24,26.

This rite consists in this, that a minister of the Gospel, according to the institution of Christ, and the usage of his apostles, takes bread and wine for a holy purpose, breaks the bread, and pours in the wine, and, after preparation and giving of thanks, dispenses both to the believing members. The broken bread is eaten, and the wine drank; Christ’s passion or bitter suffering and death, and the shedding of his precious blood; also the motives for this, together with the benefits of his death, through which man receives the remission of his sins, which is signified by this visible sign—all this is proclaimed thereby, in order that the believing church may give thanks to God for this benefit, and, as behooves members of one body, live and walk together here, as one heart and soul, in peace and love and unity. Luke 22:19,20; Acts 2:42; 20:11; 1 Cor. 10:16,17; 11:23–25; Acts 4:32.

The sum of all that has been said is; 1. that the Lord Christ is the foundation and only meritorious cause of eternal salvation; 2. that true faith in him is the means whereby we become children of God and partakers of his merits; 3. that the children of God are to be known outwardly by the confession and fruits of their faith; 4. that God, through the external signs of Holy Baptism and the Supper, sets before the eyes of his children his gracious benefits, and binds them, as members of Jesus Christ, to one body, that is, to a church of God and Christ, whereby they are also admonished to the obedience they owe.

Here the answer to the first question might be concluded, but, since the Lord God, for the welfare of his church, and the propagation of the truth, as being promotive of the honor of his name and the salvation of mankind, has instituted other ceremonies and laws, besides certain offices, which, according to the circumstances of the case, the true members of the church of God are bound to observe; we shall, as briefly as is possible and proper, subjoin these to what has preceded; and this the more, as our peace presentation to people of the same faith points partly to them; that it may appear the more clearly, whether they agree with us, and we with them, in the order of the Christian household, to live according to it, through Christian obedience, together in love, peace and unity, without thinking for any reason, ever again to separate one from another.